Hello all, I'm new here and was hoping some of you revolver guys could explain to me the needs and uses for moon clips with respect to the 10mm? Do I need to use them if I buy a revolver? Or are they for shooting other stuff in the 10mm revolvers? Thanks, Chris
It depends on the revolver. If it headspaces on the case mouth (such as Ruger), moon clips are not required, but other cartridges can't be chambered and fired without some other method. If moon clips are required (such as S&W), you can shoot other cartridges, such as .40SW in the 10mm. Not a bad thing either way, just the way it is.
I have an older S&W model 25 that shoots 45acp with moon clips...great gun. I have both half-moon and full moon clips.
(btw; they also make 45 auto rim brass; same as 45 acp but with a rim like a 38, allows full ejection without moon clips )
Moon clips allow the rimless cartridge to sit properly in the chamber AND allow easy ejecting as a group...sort of like old fashion speed loaders
If needed you can shoot a 45acp in the Smith without a moon clip, as the cartridge will headspace properly on the chamber, but ejection will be a manual thing for each ( with like a pencil ) as there is no rim for the ejector to catch on to.
Shooting the .40 S&W from the Model 610 is an exercise in soft shooting. Accuracy can suffer from the freebore, and you have to clean the chambers before reverting to shooting 10mm Auto cartridges. The moon clips can act as "speed loaders". Carrying them in a big pocket can make shooting the big revolver quite convenient.
I like full moon clips. I belong to an outdoor range and when it was so hot this summer, I got to the range @ 7:00 am set up targets and fired 20 clips in my 610 and was gone by 7:30.
Due to recent heavy rain, some of the bays at the range will be flooded but there are 2-3 more that will not be as flooded but a lot of the brass would be lost in those bays due to heavy grass if shooting an auto. Do not like loosing 10 mm brass, particularly new and once-fired.